Category: Dog Parks and Brew Pubs

This may be a pipe dream, but Sharon recently got wind of a contest being held by Trek bicycles for a spokesmodel for their new line of gear designed for women. She has sent in a description of her and our journey. I hope they choose her as it would be an awesome opportunity and I know my girl would make an excellent role model. And we have no qualms about driving a mobile billboard 🙂 It could not happen at a better time either, right at the beginning of our trek across the country. It may be just a dream, but that is what we do, we dream big. After all, without big dreams, how can you do big things? It is what our One Shoe Diaries™ is all about!

Since we are notoriously running late for everything we do it seems, we wanted to overcome that stigma. It started out smooth in the morning. But Sharon and I had to get a few things for the show that should not take long…or so we thought. The stop at Home Depot took longer for me than I wanted. I had to buy PVC and connectors to create a bin for our matted prints for people to flip through. I did make a nice bin however, but it was now approaching 12:00. So we now had to visit idgroup, drop off the Puggles at Mona’s, make it back to the Cultural Center to setup. Sharon had to iron the sheet, I had 4 frames to assemble, signs to hang, a banner to hang, a map to create and more all by 3:30 to go back, shower and get ready and back to open the show at 4:30. Makes me out of breath just typing it! Somehow we managed to get it all done except i forgot my participation sheets 🙁 The rest of the night was downhill and fun. I saw many of my friends and I appreciate everyone of you for coming out. The food was great, the beer and wine never ran out, and we had a great turnout, all the while collecting new shoes and over $200.00 for Shoes That Fit. While I did not sell anything for myself, it was a success in our eyes as it raised money and awareness for a good cause also I built some name recognition for myself in the Pensacola area. I will now begin planning for our next event, hopefully in Austin, TX. Stay Tuned 🙂

After a tearful goodbye we got on the road only to hit traffic jam after traffic jam all the way to Gainesville. We heard that once again that morning tornados hit the south and people lost lives 🙁 Our thoughts are with the families and friends that have to live with this tragedy. We tried to find a good spot to dry dock but all of the good spots were taken at the rest areas so we had to park on the side of the entrance ramp going from a rest area. It was so noisy, and every time a truck went by on the highway the wind from it rocked the coach. Somehow we did get sleep and the Puggles were troopers sleeping through all the noise. They are great little travelers. We did manage to stumble upon a shoe in the weeds at a rest area (shoe #40) We arrived at Styx River Resort and got hooked up in record time and let the dogs go play in the river, Jinny was so happy. she ran and dug and swam going just willy nilly :) Note to selves: Penfolds, Thomas Hyland, Australia, Cabernet 2003

With only two weeks left until we take off on the road again, with the wild west as our destination we are getting antsy to leave. The desert is calling us. Well valentine’s day started very nice, we had a nice evening hanging with Rachie and Donnie and then went home for some romantic time alone. Upon opening the door to the coach we saw torn pieces of cardboard and red material, and Jack acting as if he had just drank 5 tall cafe lattes. It turned out the remains were the box of dark chocolate truffles Sharon had given me earlier. And as many of you know, dark chocolate is highly toxic to dogs and all 10 truffles were missing. We read on the internet and realized how bad it was so we had no choice to race off to the emergency vet and open our wallets:( They made both of them vomit and upon inspection realized it was the knucklehead Jack that ate all of it himself. So he was the one who got the charcoal in his belly and an IV just in case. They kept him overnight and we left Jinny to keep him company, we did not sleep as we were worried sick. Finally around 6:00 I went and got them and Jack seemed just fine, they gave him a clean bill of health. The only side effect was he pooped out charcoal briquets, literally :) It is official, the first public showing of the One Shoe Diaries™ collection is set to take place at the Pensacola Little Theater in Pensacola. We intend to team up with Shoes that Fit charity to raise money and awareness for them. Idgroup is sponsoring us and we are currently trying to get more sponsors for framing. We are so excited, so anyone in the Pensacola area, mark your calendars, we would love to see you out there! Went kayaking at the Myakka River State park with our friend Kevin. We got a little angry at the people who felt like they had to tell us that the puggles would make a nice “gator snack”. Seems a little rude to say that I think, to put the image of your dog getting eaten by a gator into someones head is awful. But we left them far behind as we launched our kayaks down the river, and a beautiful river it was! Despite being very windy and having to paddle downstream to make headway the trip was quite relaxing, we did see the infamous gators everywhere, we spotted 16 and some very large. We got quite a spook when 2 twelve-footers splashed off the bank into the water just feet from us. We enjoyed a very nice day. We went to the HOH dog park for the last time for a long time. We got to say goodbye to our friends and Jack and Jinjer said goodbye to Bella, Bella, Al-Fredo, Ginger, Rocky, Alexi, Addy, Stella, Barney, Cici, and others. Their favorite buddy was Fredo, he is a fun-loving little pure bred Beagle who just loves to run. He loved to roll and wrestle with them, he would taunt Jack to get him to chase him by grabbing Jack’s ball. Just a few days back, poor Fredo almost knocked himself out when he was running from Jack full speed while carrying a frisbee which flipped up and impaired his vision and he ran smack into the metal leg of the park bench. He was a trooper though and shook it off to keep going. Another stunt he and Jack were in on, is a woman was sitting at the picnic table and Fredo grabbed her straw hat and ran, Jack followed after him and took it from him and ripped the flower off in a matter of seconds. The woman was very nice and only saw the humor in it and laughed along with everyone else. We will miss Fredo’s parents as well. The “father” was an older New Yorker, and so was his “mother”, they held their age well as they were a charming, attractive older couple. She was a bit of a nervous nelly, and at first it made us on edge, but it actually became quite an endearing trait because she just generally cared about her dog and everyone else’s well being. They seemed to take in life, they were well traveled, educated, funny and always classy. We will try to keep in touch with them as we travel. Well the day has come to uproot and move north…a bittersweet time as we will miss our family in Port Charlotte, but we are ready for some adventure!

Sharon and I on the ride home from Pensacola had an epiphany. It came after speaking with idgroup and the future path of the company and my role in it. Idgroup decided to target companies that are “green” or serious in becoming a “green” company, but before we can talk the talk, we must walk the talk. That means becoming “green” as a company. Well that does not happen overnight it is a journey. So on this train of thought Sharon and I have decided that we want to be on that journey also. And of course we have to create a website detailing that journey. So www.Journey2Green.com has been created! Rather than explain it all here please just visit the site for more information. It should be another great site to keep updated. Our main goal with the site is to force ourselves to become green, to educate others on how to begin their own journey, and also to generate sponsorship opportunities for us through advertising on a back page because becoming green is not cheap 🙂 We also will be touring and doing some speaking engagements to fellow RVers on how they can do things around their RVs to make them more environmentally friendly. This is a very exciting venture for us as this fits what we want our lifestyle to be, we want to leave no trace and at the same time become more socially responsible.

Well it is Addy time again, the Advertising Federation Advertising Awards banquet. We headed out early for Pensacola, I was proud of us since we did not sleep well, but we hit the road with vigor. The sky was glowed an eerie orange and it was so hot and humid, you could feel the energy in the atmosphere, it was going to storm hard soon. The sky grew so dark, almost black on our way past Sarasota. The rain fell harder than i have ever seen, and I have been through some hurricanes and tropical downpours in Florida over the years. We slowly cam out of it, it was an intense line of storms, we soon found out it was a deadly line. Tornadoes were generated by this system just hours earlier that ravaged and destroyed parts of central Florida, 19 people perished, most still asleep in bed when they struck. My heart sank as we past the Lady Lake exit where most of the casualties happened 🙁 I did find a shoe just past that exit to photograph (shoe #28) that I want to commemorate to the memories of those who tragically lost their lives to mother nature’s fury. It was still wet from the storms that spawned that devastation and dirt still blasted to its side from the blowing winds. I thought about stoping to take some photos, but I no longer want to see lives of others literally torn wide open 🙁 Our thoughts are with you all. Down the road a bit another sight that sucks to see and has become a familiar sight to us is a convoy of FEMA vehicles speeding to a disaster zone. The ADDYs did not play out like I had hoped for the idgroup team, our DestinFirst campaign got snubbed. There were some nice pieces that won but mostly what I call “fluff” won. The strategy behind the work was not really given any consideration and that was our strong point. But it was a great time anyway, I got to hang out with the idgroup team, which really feels more like family. And the best way to sum it all up is to quote a part of one of my idgroup teammate’s and dear friend’s email… “I feel compelled to write. It was obvious at this evening’s event that some were disappointed that idgroup didn’t earn more awards. I can honestly say, I was not disappointed. Here’s why: because what we have is so special and so beyond what any award could capture. Forgo our “industry” for a minute. First and foremost, each of you are among some of the BEST people I’ve encountered in my 34 short years. idgroup is blessed not only with TALENTED people but GOOD people. REALLY GOOD people. And, REALLY REAL people. My biggest award tonight and every day is being surrounded by people who I have grown to respect, admire, and love.” How can one not feel lifted by such great words? I have said it before and I will say it again. I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life, it gives me wealth beyond money. I live a blessed life and am so thankful for all of you! And to put a lighthearted spin on the event, when Sharon got her dinner plate it had steak and a cornish game hen on it. And as you may or may not know, she is a vegetarian. So when we asked if she could get the vegetarian dinner, that took her plate and went to retrieve her “vegetarian” dinner, complete with two chicken breasts! Because you know they thought well she doesn’t eat meat, so give her chicken! WHAT!?!?! My goodness, some fact is truly funnier than fiction.

Okay we have definitive proof we are not the youngest fulltimers out there. While at our favorite pub, the Celtic Ray, we met Damien and Michelle who are now officially the youngest fulltimers we know of. Brigid’s Cross was playing we were out with Rachie and Donnie drinking some fine brews when we came across them at the bar. We were taken back when we asked them where they were from and they answered “We live full time in a motorhome”. And when we replied “So do we!” They seemed a little surprised. It is always nice to meet other young people living life like us. It turned out that they we in town for the crafts festival on Sullivan Street. They have a jewelry business in which they hand create the designs and travel around to festivals and shows selling their pieces. It was beautiful jewelry! Completely natural materials, flowers, rocks and even butterfly wings! We will post a link to their products as soon as they get it up and running. They had to boogie on to Sarasota because of generator troubles (which we know all too well). They shared many of the same interests as us and we hope to catch up with them for some Thai food and good beer and share more adventures of living on the road as “gypsies” :) The Hounds on Henry dog park was the location of a doggie birthday party. I never thought I would ever attend one of those, but it turned out to be fun. A lot of dogs running everywhere mixed in with adults eating cake and socializing. See the photos from the party here. A little known fetish i have discovered that some people out there are smitten with is women wearing only one shoe. There are several pages on the internet exploring this fetish, complete with photos. No nudity, just women wearing only one shoe, albeit one high heel in hose, but still! Crazy what turns some people on! UPDATE: The birthday party for the puppies at Hounds on Henry made the news, the Charlotte Sun actually devoted an entire page to the event, along with a group shot naming all the dogs. Amazing what the news will cover, with any luck I will get the One Shoe Diaries™ some press coverage. The annual Festival of Beers in Fort Myers took place and we just had to go. Sharon, her Sister Rach, husband Donnie and I got a late start. When we got there it was sooo crowded, it was only for 3 hours and we already missed almost a whole hour driving there and then we had to wait in a large line to get in, only to get into another line to get our beer tickets and then stand in lines to get beer samples. It was supposed to be one 4oz. sample per ticket and we got 20 tickets each. I made it a game to see if i could distract the beer tenders and not have to give a ticket, I wanted to see how many I could end up with at the end of the night. The first 300 people entering the event got commemorative glasses and we were nowhere near that early so we got hosed. I did tell Sharon i was going to get a glass one way or another I figured some drunk would just set his glass down and wander off. No luck, but right at the end I noticed two glasses just sitting on a ledge near a couple, not sure if the glasses were theirs or not, but since they started making out and not paying attention (or so I thought) I grabbed the glasses calmly and walked off. Sharon was amazed when I walked back with two glasses. It was time to go so we started walking down the parking lot when I heard a guy shout “Hey you stole my glasses”. Damn, caught. So I figured they were his he caught me so I ran the glasses back to him. He just laughed and said “That was an awesome try, you can keep one”. “Thanks” I replied. I got a glass after all. It was a very fun night, met lots of people and tried many beers, although none that I had not tried before except Groelsch Amber, we was not that good. We visited the Punta Gorda Gilchrist art festival and saw our buddy from Hudson Sea Fest, the Iguana “sculptor”. Just upon entering the festival we here a familiar annoying sound, “croaking” wooden frogs! I cannot believe he was there, what a shame artist. For more see “Carnie” Folk entry. It got really cold down in Florida one night. And the day before Sharon and I went through our clothes and decided to donate a lot of our sweatshirts and sweaters to Goodwill. But her sister had a great idea, since it was going to be so cold the next couple of nights she suggested we give out the clothes to the homeless folks that reside under the 41 bridge. So of course we thought it would be a great idea, but we were nervous to go under there, but it was the right thing to do. We did get lucky and met a few guys in the parking lot and asked them if they would want some blankets and sweaters, and if they could help give them out to friends since there were quite a few. They were very nice, they were grateful and promised they would get the clothes to others. It didnt matter if they did, at least two people got some warm clothes. The following day Sharon and I we ordered hot chocolates at Dunkin Donuts and when I went to pay I found to my dismay I had no wallet nor loose money. We told them we were sorry but we are going to have to run home and come back to get the chocolates. The woman working there was so sweet, she just told us to take them as a gesture for us to come back often. We will stop by again for sure, what a nice thing to happen in a world that so many times people disappoint us. I like to think maybe it was Karma giving us a little back from the night before 🙂

As most of you know I am collecting photos of the one shoes I find lost in America. I plan on creating a coffee table book with the photos and stories of how I found the shoe along with other stories relating to the shoes, it has been an adventure already. And there has been another exciting development in the adventure. It has come to my attention, after searching the web for One Shoe Diaries™ in order to see where my site pops up, that someone else shares my vision and intrigue for these one shoes. Julie Ann Shapiro, a writer in San Diego seems to be so inspired by them she has created a serialized novel around one shoes that she titled One Shoe Diaries™ as well!!. I am not going to go much into why she wrote the book or her ideas, I will let you read them in a statement by her to be released shortly. Needless to say it is unbelievable how much our visions are alike. Her book is about a photographer who is obsessed with photographing the one shoes he finds around the U.S….HOW CRAZY IS THAT!! And I am totally convinced she came up with the idea totally independent of my idea. It just proves my theory of how just seeing one shoe by itself ignites the imagination of how it got there. She took it to the point of writing a whole novel around one she happened to see while jogging one day. There are more weird coincidences also in the novel. The name of the character is Brad, the name I wanted my mom to change mine to because I got teased once for Randy being a girl’s name 🙂 The photographer’s first shoe he photographed was a flip flop on the beach, and so was mine! And she released the news about her novel in a press release on December 8th, MY BIRTHDAY!! He even shoots family beach photos. We have exchanged ideas quite a bit and decided we will collaborate on One Shoe Diaries™. And since we have not nailed down the details except to say it will be a win-win for both of us and adds a whole new dimension to our concept. For now I still own the trademark and the domain name, but I believe we share the idea and both deserve to use it. Stay tuned for more information.

Being down here in the land of the retired, one can sometimes come across some interesting driving procedures. One is when the person in front of you forgets to turn off their turn signal. Blink, blink, blink….are they going to turn? Nope they are just driving along in their own world, maybe the Big Band music is a little too loud, and they are just jammin’. My thing to do, being the aggravator and agitator I am, Is to pull in front of them and turn my signal on too. Blink, blink, blink…. I imagine they are wondering “how can that idiot in front of me not notice his signal is still on, is he STUPID!?!” Then I watch the look on their face in my mirror as they figure out they are the idiot who has left THEIR signal on. I always get a good chuckle out of that. But as karma has caught up to me on other things, it now has caught up to me again as my signal on the motorhome makes no noise and I had someone do the SAME THING to me!! And what was I thinking of course, “Does that idiot not know his signal is on!?!” 🙂 :) We got to spend some time with our Canadian friends, Denis and Sandy along with their two Pugs, Pugsy and Hercules. If you read our blog from Navarre Beach last year you will recognize them. We have met many great people out here on the road, but these are the only people we really conncted with enough to keep in touch with. They are always nice to hang out with, we love there spirit and energy. They love life and it is contagious. We planned a canoe trip with them down the Peace River and it was great 5 mile paddle. Jack and Jinjer rode in the canoe with us, it was a really nice time, far away from worries of real life, a mini-vacation of sorts. After lunch we said goodbye and plan to hook up again out west somewhere this spring. Safe travels to you guys!

Tis the Season…to sit around in shorts around the Xmas tree. This was my first time spending Christmas in Florida so it was hard to get into the spirit when it is 85º, but I made it through it 🙂 It was nice, Donny, Rachie, Kevin and Jason spent the day with us. It was kinda sad not to be spending it on the Farm at Deal Island. The highlight was sitting around the TV that night with Donny and Rachie watching the movie Polar Express for the first time, just relaxing and drinking eggnog. Next in line for Holidays was New Year’s Eve. Well again nothing exciting. We spent it at our favorite Pub, The Celtic Ray. The highlight of the evening was getting bottle rockets to shoot at Kevin for old time’s sake. It had been a while since I have “lit someone up” 🙂 I also had a great time chatting with Greg, and if you are reading this I hope your NAPS does not progress too quickly as you and Helen are truly two of the “good ones” in this world. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!! But on New Year’s day, Donnie, Kevin and I went on a kayak trip to Matlacha (Pine Island). We wondered for a bit but finally settled on a spot to launch the kayaks from. It was a perfect spot, we were in the middle of a mangrove forest with channels leading around in all directions, we paddled for hours around the area, if not for the GPS we would have surely gotten lost in the maze of mangroves. It was so quiet and peaceful, the crowded, disney world like Florida seemed miles and miles away. It was Donnie’s first time on a kayak and he now has the fever for one of his own. While kayaking through the cuts and canals i had been trolling a small plug just in case “dinner” was swimming by us. As we were just cruising quietly along, there arose such a clatter, a large fish had just nailed my plug and pulled my rod out of its holder and if not for i catching on a bungee cord it was gone, the fish unspooled all of my line! I quickly tried to gain composure after the shock. I started getting some line back and gaining ground so to speak on the fish, he did make a few runs but he was soon reeled in. It was a large Jack Crevalle. I did not have my pliers though and the hooks were caught in him deep. Not being a fish I usually catch I wanted to set him free. There happened to be a fellow angler who offered to take him off my hands in exchange for getting him off my hook. Apparently they are good smoked as he informed us. Right about then hunger started to hit us, and so did the tourist side of Florida as we emerged along the main channel going past Matlacha’s business district. We pulled up to a tiki bar and enjoyed a well earned lunch and a beer. The end of a great start to the year 2007! Thanks for a great time guys!